Taexalia

wild.life

Nothing Is Useful

Nothing Is Useful ~ Bare Soil

It doesn't look like much more than a scrawny patch of neglected garden - and in a way that's exactly what it is. The hedge-in-the-wrong-place was dug out a few months ago and still I haven't come up with A Plan for this corner, other than vague references to "a wildlife garden, or "a wildlife pond"...

Yet this bare patch of soil has been as much a part of the circle as the Borage flowers, or the goldfinches.

Can you see any holes? They were made by solitary ground-nesting bees. On the day I noticed them I was sitting on the edge of the strawberry patch humming and hawing about where to set up the overflow veg patch. Had the bees nested elsewhere then this patch of ground might currently be sporting the crazy growth of the pumpkin plant. Instead, I left it to the bees.

Yesterday, before the deluge, a family of sparrows entertained me as they bathed in the dust. A patch of bare earth is vital for feather maintenance - removing excess oils, cleaning out parasites and even just cooling the birds and fledglings on a hot day.

So whenever I do create a Plan, the wildlife garden will have a patch of bare soil to keep the birds and the bees happy. Sometimes doing nothing in the garden is all the wildlife needs.

Sunflower